Ex-Castleford Tigers boss and Leeds Rhinos assistant-coach Ryan Carr joins staff at NRL club

Carr left Tigers in August less than a full season into a three-year contract and has now been confirmed as an assistant to boss Benji Marshall at Australian club Wests Tigers. He will work alongside ex-England player Chris Heighington and former Man of Steel Brett Hodgson, who played in Super League for Huddersfield Giants and Warrington Wolves.

Marshall said: “Ryan brings a wealth of knowledge and was highly impressive throughout the interview process. What appealed to me was his ability to connect to players and the way he thinks about his footy. He will be our defence coach and I’m excited about what he will bring to the team.”

Carr, who had a spell as assistant-coach at Leeds Rhinos in 2019 when he also worked as team boss at Featherstone Rovers, joined Castleford a year ago from St George-Illawarra Dragons. He previously worked under current Leeds chief Brad Arthur at Parramatta Eels and was on France’s staff at the 2022 World Cup. The 38-year-old Australian was away from the West Yorkshire club for several weeks before his departure was confirmed, with Tigers saying he had left for “personal reasons”.

Castleford won seven of his 21 Super League games in charge. He was last month fined £3,000 by the RFL - half of it suspended until the end of 2020 - for “directing an abusive accusation at the referee” during a win over Leeds in July.